The Coronavirus Cabinet met Monday afternoon to continue the discussion on reopening the school system and reopening the economy in accordance wit the new "Green Badge,"
At the beginning of the meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, "In France, the health services instructed hospitals to prepare for a sharp rise in infections due to the mutation. The emergency situation in the Czech Republic will continue for two additional weeks due to the rise in infections because of the mtuation. In Britian, [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson said he hopes that schools will reopen on March 8 - because of the mutation."
"We need to reopen gradually and carefully, and this is what we want to do in two stages: In the first stage, next week, obviously we will open street stores and synagogues, but in addition, using the Green Badge, [we will reopen] malls, markets, gyms, cultural events, sports, museums, hotels, and more."
In the second stage, approximately two weeks afterwards, more things will be opened up.
"We can do this, because we have vacciantions. Vaccinations for every citizen - unlike most countries. Unlike Britain, the Czech Republic, France, and all the others," he emphasized. "We can open in a responsible fashion," Netanyahu emphasized.
"We need to open up while doing our utmost to vaccinate as many of the 570,000 people over age 50, who are in danger of [losing] their health, becoming severely ill, and dying. Therefore, we need to work together to reopen with the Green Badge and vaccinate quickly in order to overcome the virus.
Regarding the upcoming Purim holiday, Netanyahu said: "We will need to make decisions regarding special restrictions on Purim, because we don't want infections to spread on Purim, and that's what we will discuss today. I hope that we will be able to make decisions today regarding all of these issues - and if not today, then tomorrow at latest."
Defense Minister Benny Gantz argued with Netanyahu, who attempted to explain why an economic aid plan for citizens and businesses must be approved.
"We don't have any safety margins, because we have nearly a thousand seriously ill patients," Netanyahu said. "Reopening will raise the number of seriously ill patients. I don't believe anyone here doesn't understand this. We need to reopen carefully. When there are economic problems I say yes; therefore, we have built an economic plan that no one is willing to work with. The answer is not to open up. The right balance, with a gradual reopening, is the economic plan."
Gantz responded: "We are not stopping the economic plan, we are stopping the election bribes. You're playing with me the way you feel comfortable. I'm in favor of discussing the economic plan and hearing everyone, and then bringing it to the government for a discussion. You know better than I do."
Netanyahu then told the government's secretary to set an immediate time to discuss the issues.